


I Ship Us

by FallenShandeh



Series: The Sabriel Letters [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff and Angst, High School, Homophobic Language, M/M, Nerd Gabriel, Nostalgia, but only a little angst, fangirl!gabe, nerd love, no one fucks with a winchester, references to extreme bullying, writer!gabe shares the best day of his life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-01
Updated: 2014-09-01
Packaged: 2018-02-15 18:10:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2238543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallenShandeh/pseuds/FallenShandeh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Gabriel, now twenty-four and a successful author, reminisces on the best day of his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Ship Us

The day I met Sam Winchester is still the day I consider to be the best day of my life, better than the day I received the acceptance letter from my publisher. Better, even, than finally finishing high school - finally being free of the place I will forever consider to be my own personal hell. Sammy saved me in more ways than one, and sometimes I look at him and there’s something in his eyes that makes me think maybe I saved him, too. Six years ago, his shadow fell across the pages of my book and his gentle hand landed on my shoulder, rubbing it softly while I drowned in my story-induced tears.

The first three words he ever spoke to me were: "Are you okay?"

I looked up and managed a weak smile. Truly, I wanted to be left alone to my misery - my favorite character just died, dammit - but he was cute and I didn't want to be rude. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just... it's this book."

"Which book?"

I couldn't help a proper smile at the eagerness written all over his face, at the way he subtly leaned towards me. I never thought I would meet someone so cute who enjoyed reading as much as I did.

"I-it's the fourth in a series called _The Chronicles of Bane_. I never expected it to be this sad... I found the first one three days ago." I had no life, but I was happy. My parents were just glad I was addicted to books, not something less healthy, like cocaine.

"Three days? Man. Not even _I_ read _that_ obsessively!" A wide smile spread across his face, lighting it up from the inside, and a light blush dusted his cheeks. He sat down next to me, shyly edging closer once he was settled. My gaydar went off the scale in that moment. Good news for me. My imagination went into overdrive and I turned my eyes back to my book, blushing too.

"Sorry..." he murmured, moving away again. I scrambled to keep the distance the same, still looking down at the pages.

"It's- it's ok," I stammered, heat rising even higher in my cheeks. "I'm... I'm Gabe."

"Sam," he replied with another bright smile. "Sam Winchester."

I knew the name, but, until now, not the face. People talked about him constantly. I got the impression he was never bullied to his face, but then, not many people would be stupid enough to openly bully a six-foot-seven (at least) guy who looked like he knew how to kill people with his bare hands. Not to mention he had an older brother who wasn’t quite as tall but had a reputation for getting into, and winning, bar brawls.

But, no matter how physically intimidating he was, the rumors wouldn’t stop. Behind his back, they called him nerd, loser, loner, geek, weirdo, and worse. All the names they called me to my face, except for one, because he was too tall and handsome and masculine to ever be accused of being _gay_.

Idiots. Like _they_ knew anything about telling who was gay and who wasn’t.

I still don’t know why it got to me so much, but when people called me ‘fairy’, or any homophobic slur for that matter, I could never quite keep a hold of my temper. Or, unfortunately, my tear ducts. I came out when I was thirteen; they were really only telling me what I already knew. That was how I tried to rationalize it. It never worked.

Hiding behind my fringe, I looked up at Sam and tried to find words. I had a question to ask him, one to which I was fairly sure I already knew the answer… but I needed confirmation. I needed to know if I was permanently and irretrievably friendzoned, or if my gaydar was, in fact, right about this one. Flirting with a guy only to find out he was straight was almost invariably an unpleasant experience. Embarrassing at best. Traumatic at worst. And sometimes it was hazardous to my health. Mom was horrified the first time I came home with a black eye. It only got worse from there. By the time I met Sam, halfway through senior year, flirting with a straight guy could - and did on two occasions - result in a stay in hospital and up to four surgeries.

So to say I was afraid was a major understatement.

Sam smiled warmly and strong hands on my upper arms hoisted me to my feet. I fought the instinctive cringe and lost. And the big, deadly-looking dude who had picked me up instantly shrunk, looking like a kicked puppy.

“Sorry, sorry, I’m sorry…” he mumbled, over and over until I interrupted him.

“Stop it,” I snapped, then looked at my feet. There was hurt in his eyes; he tried to hide it but I’d gotten good at reading people. How I could have possibly lashed out at him… “Uh… stop apologizing, I mean. I just…”

“No, I _am_ sorry,” Sam insisted, looking me straight in the eyes. His were green. Weren’t they blue a second ago? I wasn’t sure. He smiled shyly and glanced to the side, and they went hazel, then blue again. “I didn’t think… look, stick with me and no one will ever beat you up again, ‘kay?”

Of course he knew. The whole damned school knew. Hell, half of them probably had video footage on their phones. The rest had seen it. But…

“No one fucks with a Winchester,” I thought out loud. “But Sam, I-” _I’ve fallen madly in nerdy gay love with you and I can’t stand being near you if you’re straight._ “I don’t want you to feel like you have to protect me. I’m okay. I can handle it.”

“Gabe, you’re terrified,” he pointed out.

“Am not,” I protested, well aware I sounded like a five-year old. Looked like one too, complete with pout and puppy eyes.

“Are too.” Sam stuck his tongue out at me, then danced backwards, away from the playful swat I aimed at his shoulder.

“Am not-” I stopped myself, frozen in place by sheer amazement. _Did I just…?_

A huge hand landed on my shoulder. “You okay?”

“Y-yeah.” My traitorous voice choked up. “I just… it’s been a long time since I had a friend.” They were all too afraid of the _fag boy_ , scared I would infect them with gay germs or something stupid like that. Girls didn’t seem to mind the idea of a sassy gay friend, but I wasn’t sassy. I was nerdy. Double dose of social stigma right there. And _short_. Make that triple.

“Yeah,” Sam agreed. “Me too. I sort of… I used to move schools all the time. Eight different schools in my sophomore year. Twelve last year. Wasn’t until this year that Dean finally… um…”

At an invisible signal half-sensed, I nodded and changed the subject. “Hey, do you, uhh… are you free Friday night?”

He blinked, blushed tomato red, and made a choked sound that was _sort of_ an affirmative.

“I’ll pick you up at seven… jeans and a t-shirt should do it. And a coat, it’ll be cold…”

“G-Gabe… are you… is this…” Sam paused and cleared his throat. He almost squeaked his next two words. “A date?”

I stepped backwards and hid behind my fringe again. What-ifs ran through my head. This guy could actually kill me… “Y-yes?”

He launched himself at me and I tried to turn and run, but wasn’t fast enough. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Ribs… being… crushed… _Oh, god, I asked the wrong guy out and now I’m going to die_ …

Suddenly I could breathe again, but my knees wouldn’t hold me up. The same big, warm hands as before grabbed my upper arms before I could fall, and big, worried eyes - brown, now - examined my face. Then they flicked downwards, and there was no mistaking the fact that _Sam Winchester was checking me out_.

“I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry,” he said, turning the full force of his puppy eyes on me. I couldn’t breathe again, and it only got worse when he bit his lip. “I just… I didn’t think. Sorry… sorry…” He kept on like that, holding me up, until I finally took a shaky breath in.

“I’m okay,” I told him, unsure who I was actually trying to convince. “I’ll… get used to it. You’re a… a giant puppy.”

He let out a nervous, tremulous laugh and hugged me again, more carefully. “Dean calls me a moose.”

“Tall, unco, probably able to kill a man completely by accident… yeah… accurate,” I somehow managed to joke.

“Did you think I was going to hurt you for asking me out?” God, that pout… 

“I, uh- maybe...” I didn’t want to confirm it, but I couldn’t lie.

“Gabe, dammit, why would I ever hurt you? Especially for that reason!” Black fury crossed his face. I knew it wasn’t directed at me, but I still shrunk away from it. His face immediately softened. “Hey. Hey, you’re okay. It’s okay. Gabe, baby-” I thrilled to the word “-I’m as gay as you are. I ship us like fedex.”

I made an inhuman noise and literally _glomped_ him, fangirling harder than anyone ever.

**Author's Note:**

> This is an experiment, so please be nice. I have NEVER used this style of writing before. I hope the change in tense felt smooth and natural to you guys.
> 
> My personal headcanon about the story behind "Gabe" writing this piece is that Sam suggested he write about the best day of his life as an exercise to try to break his writer's block so he could work on his novel. This Gabe is a massive nerd, just like us, and fangirls intensely over things. Especially in his high school years.
> 
> "The Chronicles of Bane" is a series I'm idly working on writing and MIGHT one day finish. Eventually.
> 
> Talk to me, people! What do you want "Gabe" to write about next? I might write more if I get a decent response from this. If not I'll just chalk it up to a failed experiment. No skin off my nose.


End file.
